Discerning bicycle enthusiasts with a taste for the finer things in life are in luck. Both Audi and DeLorean are producing cycles worthy of some attention. While the DeLorean sticks to the conventional man-made energy source, Audi’s concepts will provide a motorized option to help any cyclists who get a little bored with the continued cranking.Continue reading...

Since Miami-based Zumba Fitness got started back in 2001, it has rapidly grown into a global phenomenon, bringing new music and dance moves to millions of people, of all ages and shapes, worldwide. The dance class can now be found in 125 countries and has grown nearly 800 percent in just the last three years, according to the company.

Over time, it has introduced a number of different classes in order to hit as many markets as possible: Water! Wheelchair-bound! Kids! You name it. Now the company is expanding into the apparel business. According to a press release, Zumba Fitness has a new line of branded clothing that will be sold exclusively at Harrod’s in Britain for the next two months and then, naturally, beyond.Continue reading...

AT&T has done such a thorough job of branding that consumers don’t think the company does much else beyond wireless telephony. Of course, that has never been true and the company is now aiming to continue its expansion into other areas.

The wireless service provider, according to Reuters, “is making a big investment in a nationwide wireless home monitoring service” with the hope that it could add another $1 billion in revenue to the corporation’s coffers.

Trials of the new service, called Digital Life, are planned for this year and will require customers to have sensors and cameras installed that will be linked to a central home system that then connects to AT&T’s monitoring system wirelessly.Continue reading...

The newly-launched TED-ED website is TED’s latest delivery on its brand promise of “Ideas Worth Spreading;” a dynamic site with customizable tools for educators.

Enhancing the TED-Ed YouTube channel launched in March whose short videos have garnered over 2.5 million views, this latest platform lets teachers tailor TED-Ed videos with follow-up questions and assignments.

Each short video (three to eight minutes) includes multiple choice quizzes, open-ended questions and a ‘Dig Deeper’ section. When a student answers incorrectly, a ‘Video Hint’ directs them to the point in the video with the correct answer. Teachers can browse content by subject with videos mapped via tagging to curricula taught in schools and access correlative materials that augment with the learning level.Continue reading...

IKEA today previewed its seventh annual Ikea PS collection, showing at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile (Milan Furniture Fair) and arriving in European stores in August. But the bigger buzz was its move into home electronics, with the new Uppleva (Swedish for "uplifting") hybrid HDT/home entertainment center.

Integrating RCA's HDTV system into a flat-pack entertainment unit, the TV-embedded furniture "comes in three designs and will be sold first in Sweden, France, Poland, Germany and Italy in June, with a few more markets due to launch in the second half of the year," according to the Associated Press. "By the first half of next year, it will be available worldwide, with the cheapest costing about 6,500 Swedish kronor ($955)."Continue reading...

Marmite is considered a yeasty feast by some, and ick-inducing goo by others, but love it ior hate it: the iconic British brand has earned a reputation worldwide since its conception in 1902. 

Marking its 110th anniversary this year, Marmite is tipping its cap to another iconic British brand celebrating a major milestone this year: Queen Elizabeth, who celebrates 60 years on the throne at her Diamond Jubilee on June 5th.Continue reading...

Plenty of sports teams invite fans to come watch them train, travel with them to away games, or come play ball with some of the players who were second-stringers way back when, but the Real Madrid soccer team in Spain is going way further than that.

The team has announced that it is constructing a $1 billion amusement-filled vacation resort and theme park on a manmade island in the United Arab Emirates that will be shaped like the team’s emblem and is slated to open in January 2015.

The club's management team told the press that they're confident it's "an emotional place for an emotional brand" — and a smart business extension that will satisfy hardcore fans and prove to be a 'real' money-maker. Critics aren't so convinced.Continue reading...

The initial response to firearm maker Glock's "Glock Perform" apparel collection suggests the brand extension is lacking… performance.

Last year, we looked at how the once-exotic and prohibitively expensive Austrian handgun became a household name just months before the release of the book, Glock: The Rise of America's Gun.

Now, to celebrate its 25th anniversary, the firearm-maker is letting brand fans show their pride through a line of Glock-branded clothing. By its own definition Glock Perform "supports your lifestyle" and provides "Confidence in any situation." Continue reading...